Joseph J. Seneca

Characteristics of Collusive Firms

DESPITE the fact that collusion among American firms has been actively prosecuted under the antitrust laws for many years, little is known about the effects of this policy. Such ignorance is partly attributable to the problems that accompany empirical investigation. It is, quite simply, difficult to isolate the effects of any mode of business conduct on observable market phenomena. A second source of ignorance is the per se illegality of collusion under the Sherman Act. Since the existence of the offensive conduct is virtually the sole issue considered by United States courts, exploration of surrounding circumstances has been minimal. This paper attempts to shed some light by examining evidence on the characteristics of collusive firms during the period 1958-67.

Housing values, census estimates, disequilibrium, and the environmental cost of airport noise: A case study of Atlanta☆

Abstract Two unresolved issues about airport noise-property value studies are addressed. The first issue concerns the comparability of empirical results from aggregate census data vs individual sales values, and the second issue concerns the homogeneity and stability of results from housing price studies over time and across markets. Hedonic price models from two sets of data for a residential area near the Atlanta International Airport are estimated at two points in time 1979–1980 and 1970–1972. The available data yield similar estimates of the noise discount over time, and from the prices of individual house sales vs owner-appraised census block aggregates.

The Effects of Tuition and Financial Aid on the Enrollment Decision at a State University.

Students admitted to more than one institution of higher education face one of the most difficult decisions of their lives. The determinants of these enrollment decisions are crucially important to the yield of qualified students from the number admitted to colleges and universities. This paper specifies an empirical model of the enrollment decision for students admitted both to Rutgers University and to at least one alternate college. Our estimates of the parameters of the model with a binary choice multiple regression equation show that students base their enrollment decision on the relative quality of the schools, their own abilities and family resources, and the net costs of the schools. The results are relevant to university tuition and financial aid policies. The general methodology is replicable by other institutions seeking information on the determinants of the enrollment decision.

The determinants of progress to the doctoral degree

The time doctoral students expect to take to complete their degree is investigated in a model which stresses the effects of economic factors. The model also accounts for the interdependency among such variables as employment hours, study hours, household income, and part-time study. We find that field of study, amount of borrowing, household income, and study hours have direct effects on expected time to degree. Indirect effects also occur from employment hours and the amount of fellowship, scholarship, or grant aid. When the sample is separated into foreign and U.S. students, we find that U.S. students underestimate their time to degree. Also, household incomes are higher for U.S. students and increase the time to degree, while the opposite is true for foreign students. Teaching assistantships increase the time to degree for foreign students while research assistantships reduce it.

Monopoly and external costs: An application of second-best theory to the automobile industry☆

Abstract A monopoly that creates external costs poses a classic second-best problem: Whereas optimal allocation would be achieved by both removal of the monopoly and correction of the externality, it cannot be presumed that either action taken alone would improve welfare. It is shown that the desirability of pursuing either policy in isolation depends on the relative size of the external cost and the monopolists price-cost margin. The analysis is applied to the automoblie manufacturing industry. Under current estimates of pollution damage and price-cost margin, industry output is suboptimal. Whereas this finding may not be translated directly into policy recommendations, it suggests that some skepticism about internalizing pollution costs is justified unless such action is accompanied by an appropriate reduction in monopoly power.

An Analysis of Recreational Use of the TVA Lakes

The recent and steadily increasing concern about the condition of the country’s water supply, its utilization and the potential demands that may be made upon it in the future, is a subject deserving of growing effort and study. One aspect of the water problem is its use in recreation. The rise in productivity and consumption standards, the increase and spread of leisure time through all levels of the society, and the emerging cultural goal of the ‘good life’1 are all factors responsible for an ever increasing pressure upon the nation’s recreational facilities.

The Incidence of Automobile Pollution Control

The incidence of a vehicle tax to reduce automobile pollution is examined over all affected groups: consumers, stockholders, pollution sufferers, and government expenditure beneficiaries. Gains and losses are estimated under alter native assumptions about industry pricing. The net effect of the tax is regressive if government expenditure benefits are distributed neutrally. Under different expenditure assumptions the tax effect becomes progressive, but the results suggest that a tax on emissions rather than vehicles may be more equitable as well as more efficient.